Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

Kortmann moved closer to the bed and studied the unconscious Jon with renewed interest.

'Young Campelli is full of surprises,' he said to himself. 'Have any of you ever seen anything like this before?' he asked Clara, who was standing on one side of the bed.

She shook her head. 'Never. There's never been anything that even resembled physical phenomena, energy discharges or whatever you want to call it.'

'So we don't in fact know what we're dealing with here,' said Kortmann. 'It could be a new sort of Lector power that we haven't yet seen, or it could be a separate phenomenon – an area of the brain that became activated by accident and has no relation to our powers.'

Katherina cleared her throat. 'I think it has something to do with his powers.'

'Can you explain?' asked Kortmann, sounding annoyed.

'When we use our powers on transmitters, we can feel a kind of pulse in the accentuations or energies they emit.' Clara nodded agreement. 'And I sensed that the phenomena followed the beat of Jon's heart,' Katherina explained. 'It's true that the frequency was irregular, but the phenomena occurred and were reinforced with every pulse – I'm sure of that.'

'And this… pulse. Is it something that only transmitters have?' The tone of Kortmann's voice was gentler but his eyes were cold. Katherina shifted her glance to Clara, who was smiling at her like a proud mother.

'Yes,' replied Katherina. 'It has nothing to do with a normal pulse. It only occurs when transmitters use their powers.'

'That's how we, as receivers, can determine whether someone has transmitter powers and is using them or not,' Clara added.

Kortmann rolled his wheelchair a short distance away from Jon's bed.

'So that means he's not dangerous as long as he's not reading. Is that right?'

'That seems to be the conclusion,' said Clara.

Kortmann cast a glance at the bookshelves surrounding them.

'But when he reads…' he said slowly, as if he were working out a maths problem. 'We have to assume he didn't do it deliberately. Is he at all able to control these energy discharges?' Kortmann fixed his eyes on Iversen, who was leaning against the counter.

'As far as I could tell, he had no idea what was happening around him,' said Iversen.

'He was totally out of it,' Pau added.

'My sense was that he was able to control the force of the energy discharges,' said Katherina, 'exactly the way you can accentuate the text with more or less force. The range he has at his disposal is simply much greater.' The others had all turned to look at her, but they didn't seem to have understood the implications of what she was saying. 'If the phenomena occur during the very violent discharges, as I felt they did, he is also capable of preventing them from happening.' She raised her index finger before the others could say anything. 'On the other hand, I don't think he can control the energy once it's been set loose.'

No one said anything for a couple of seconds. Then Kortmann threw out his hands.

'Pure guesswork,' he exclaimed. 'It's nothing but guesswork right now. The only way we're going to get answers to these questions is by asking him when he wakes up.'

Iversen nodded in agreement.

'You said there was something else you wanted to tell me,' Kortmann indicated, crossing his arms.

'We paid a visit to Tom Nшrreskov,' said Katherina, getting straight to the point. She studied Kortmann's and Clara's reactions. Kortmann frowned for a moment but then his eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth. Clara seemed to have recognized the name at once, and she looked at the floor.

'Wasn't he…' Kortmann began.

'Yes, he was banished from the Society more than twenty years ago,' Iversen confirmed.

Katherina and Iversen jointly described the meeting with Nшrreskov and his theory about the Shadow Organization. It took almost an hour, in which Katherina explained how she and Jon had found Tom and described their conversation with him. Along the way Iversen was able to supply observations and descriptions of events that supported Tom Nшrreskov's story. During the entire presentation, Kortmann sat in his wheelchair with a sceptical look on his face, listening without comment. Clara moved about the bookshop, nodding several times. Pau had sat down on the floor in a lotus position, looking offended, probably because he hadn't been let in on this information earlier.

Both Iversen and Katherina recounted the facts eagerly, and as the account progressed, Katherina's hunch that they had uncovered the real reason for the events of both twenty years ago and more recently was reinforced. Any gaps she found in the story, Iversen was able to explain, based on his knowledge of what Luca had done or said.

Afterwards there was a long pause; no one said a word. Clara had stopped pacing back and forth, and Pau had bowed his head to the floor.

'Where is Nшrreskov now?' asked Kortmann.

'Most likely still on his farm,' replied Katherina. 'He seemed almost paralysed with paranoia, and he'd probably be unwilling to leave his hiding place.'

Kortmann shook his head. 'Now that Luca's dead, the only thing you can base your theory on is the imagination of a recluse,' he said sarcastically.

'But-' Iversen protested.

'It may well be that your theory fits certain isolated events. But I wasthere, twenty years ago. There were no signs of secret conspiracies. And that's your proof.' The man in the wheelchair nodded towards Clara, who was standing with her arms crossed, regarding him coldly. 'As soon as the Bibliophile Society split up, the attacks stopped.'

'But that just shows the Shadow Organization got its way,' Iversen ventured. 'They wanted to weaken the Society by splitting it apart, and they were successful beyond their wildest expectations.'

'That's totally unreal,' said Pau. 'A Shadow Organization? Wow, I'm really scared.' He shook his head. 'You guys had better get hold of yourselves.'

For once Kortmann seemed to agree with Pau, and he gave him a nod of approval.

'And where is the evidence that unequivocally points in the direction of this Shadow Organization? Quite an imaginative explanation, to put it mildly, with no proof that it exists – as opposed to a group of receivers, and we already know they have the potential. How are we supposed to find such an organization, if it even exists? Where are we supposed to start looking?'

'I know where,' said a hoarse voice behind them.

They all turned around to stare at the bed where Jon had propped himself up on his elbow.

'I know exactly where to start.'

The thirst was the worst part.

Jon felt as if his throat were lined with insulation material, that awful glass wool, and it hurt every time he swallowed. A listlessness had also overtaken him, and even propping himself up on one elbow took a great effort. That's why he had lain there listening to the others for a while before drawing attention to himself. He had awakened as Katherina was in the midst of describing their visit to Tom Nшrreskov, and he hadn't felt it necessary to intervene until now.

Jon's arm began shaking underneath him and he dropped down onto his back again. The others came running over. Katherina was the first to reach him. He gave her a smile. He was glad to see her safe and sound.

'It's okay,' he said. 'I'm just a little tired.' He felt her hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.

'Does it hurt?' asked Iversen.

Jon shook his head.

'Could I have some water?'

Iversen sent Pau downstairs to get water – a task that obviously did not please the young man, because they could hear his disgruntled muttering as he descended the stairs.

'Do you remember anything?' asked Kortmann impatiently.

Jon raised his arm, pointed at his throat and shook his head.